THUNDER BAY – For the first time in a dozen years, the Hammarskjold Vikings are high school juior football champions.
Slotback Owen Renn rushed for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one from 30 yards out, the other from 38, to lead the Vikings to a hard-fought 15-7 win over the St. Ignatius Falcons on Saturday afternoon at Fort William Stadium.
It's been a long time coming said Renn, moments after he and his face-masked teammates hoisted the trophy.
“I think we're all feeling pretty great,” he said. “We went into this game, we had lots of confidence. Ignatius is a good thing, so we definitely didn't come in here thinking we had a walk in the park. But we're all happy with the outcome.”
Renn was three the last time Hammarskjold won a junior crown.
“I think it's huge, I really do. I know the coaches, everyone, have been waiting on it. It was our time this year.”
It was an especially long wait for Hammarskjold coach Matt Steele, the lone holdover from the 2009 squad.
“It's been a great day,” Steele said. “The kids have been working hard all year, very few practices missed. They've bought in to the program from the get-go.
“It's very gratifying. We've been very excited about this game, looking forward to the day for a very long time. It's nice to finally get that monkey off our backs, so to speak, after many, many oppotunities against this great St. Ignatius team. They definitely did not make it easy.”
St. Ignatius had the first opportunity to put points on the board, but Matteo Iossas 30-yard field goal attempt came up short at the first-quarter buzzer.
Both teams went two-and-out on their ensuing two drives.
The Vikings first score came on a third-and-five from the St. Ignatius 30, Renn sweeping right and out-racing the Falcons defenders along the sideline into the end zone for a 7-0 lead that held into halftime.
“We had really good blocking and I definitely had some room to run there,” Renn said. “It was almost a race to the corner of the end zone.”
The Vikings doubled their lead eight minutes into the third, Renn sweeping right again on a first-down play, taking it all the way a second time.
“It was a good block,” Renn said.
On their next possession the Vikings moved the ball to the St. Ignatius 23, but the drive stalled and they were forced to punt. The Falcons muffed the return and Isaac Magill pounced on the ball, falling on it at the Falcons six. Hammarskjold lost yardage on two straight plays, settling for a 19-yard field goal attempt by Nolen Sloan. His kick went wide, but through the end zone, the Vikings taking a 15-0 lead.
St. Ignatius, who struggled to establish a passing game with Lucas Dupuis behind centre, turned to trickery in the fourth.
It worked.
Dupuis faked a run, than fired it back to Quinton Dawd, who threw a dart to Kirstoff Lindstrom, who hauled it in wiht no defender in sight and waltzed into the endzone for a 53-yard score. Dupuis finished 3-for-12 for 37 yards.
The Falcons got the ball back with under a minute to play, but Dupuis was unable to hook up with any of his receivers and time ran out.
It was the ninth straight junior final for St. Ignatius.
